The Center for American Progress has just related the George W. Bush economy to the Herbert Hoover economy, in their report on “A Tale of Two Conservatives.” Despite my pretty negative opinion of how the current Administration has handled economic policy, I still find the arguments pretty strained–like the report tries too hard. The fundamental way in which the Bush economy is like the Hoover economy is that well, they’re both really bad, and yes, surely, the two men really messed up the economies they inherited–although mostly in different ways.

Still, I must admit the analogy crossed my mind several months ago, and it wasn’t just because the Democrats in Congress love to say that the Bush economic record is the ”worst since Herbert Hoover.” It was when I took my 11-year-old daughter and a couple of her friends to see the musical Annie at the Warner Theatre and heard the lyrics to the song “We’d Like to Thank You, Herbert Hoover”. Here, see for yourself whether you find yourself substituting “George W.” for “Herbert Hoover” as you watch the video clip. (How great is YouTube?)